Double Trouble
by laughsalot12
Summary: Time Travel!Fic, set in Season 2  When sorcerers appear to kill Prince Arthur, his manservant Merlin would do whatever it takes to save his master, but what if this time someone else does the saving? Older!Merlin...
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, just something that popped into my head..again and I just thought write it down, post it and see if people want to read more...soo pls read and tell me what you think aand if you want me to continue! =)**

**Beta'd by goodythreeshoes! Thanks for the excellent work. (And any remaining mistakes are completely my fault!^^)**

**(and for those who know _Friend turned prey _don't worry one more chapter is on the way and probably/most likely a sequel! =D ) **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Merlin!**

**Chapter 1**

It was a day like any other in Camelot. Merlin, Prince Arthur's clumsy manservant, had once again arrived late to wake his master, who had therefore arrived late at his training session with the other knights. This led to the usual exchange of insults and banter on their way to the training fields.

"Can't you be on time once, you incompetent oaf," shouted the enraged blonde.

"Yes, I could be, if you'd actually let me go to bed at an appropriate hour, like _before_ midnight," countered his insolent servant.

"Oh don't be ridiculous _Mer_lin. You're not a baby anymore."

"Well, at least _I'm_ not a clotpole."

"No, you're just an idiot with a mental affliction."

"Prat."

"Imbecile."

...

The day continued much in the same way until the feast in the evening, where everything changed…

Well, not everything. A sorcerer's attack during diner wasn't so unusual - what made this one special, was that there was not only one sorcerer hell-bent on killing the king, but _fifteen_. And they didn't try to kill Uther, no. Their target was Arthur and Arthur only.

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><p>What first alerted the gathering was the sudden, unnatural wind that picked up in the middle of the dining hall. Uther, of course, seeing that magic was used, immediately jumped out of his chair and bellowed for the guards, who couldn't really do anything, but watch with the rest as the sorcerers appeared out of thin air.<p>

Standing in a closed circle with their backs to each other the recently arrived sorcerers, who were all dressed in black robes with a white tree stitched in the center, surveyed the room in silence for a moment, before one of them seemed to spot Arthur. Pointing at the prince he shouted "Kill him!" Whereupon all raised their hands and released several bolts of fire in the prince's direction.

Merlin, who was standing behind Arthur, quickly readied himself to do what was necessary to protect his future king, and was only slightly panicking by the thought of having to use magic in front of the king, but before he could actually do something _another_ magical wind picked up between the bolts and Arthur, which consequently nullified the attack with the absorbing qualities of the vortex.

Frowning a little Merlin had to say it was a little disappointing that he couldn't secretly boast about having saved the crown prince this time, but for now what he was more interested in was _who_ had done the saving?He watched closely as the saviors slowly manifested out of the whirlwind into two distinguishable figures…

…And received the shock of his life as he himself appeared out of thin air, accompanied by a knight of Camelot.

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><p><strong>Review pls and tell me if you want more =D<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, sorry for the long wait, finally found time to write this, hope you'll like it and thx for the reviews/alerts, appreciate it! =) and I'll try to post the next chapter sooner! **

**Also, thanks to goodythreeshoes, my excellent beta! (Any remaining mistakes are completely my fault! :D)**

**at: random reader: thanks for your review! glad you liked it so far! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Merlin. **

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

The next minutes then were very strange to watch for the gathered people and even for Merlin. While he of course had his magic to slow down time, he could still barely comprehend what was happening. The very moment Merlin, well the other Merlin, and the knight had appeared the fifteen sorcerer panicked. And now, the hall was a chaos filled with fire-bolts and several other attack-spells, which were hurled at the two at random, but strangely enough none of the spells hit one of the intended targets. Instead, they crashed into columns or walls, making chunks of debris fly everywhere, which damaged the room quite thoroughly. However, every time one got close to Merlin, the second, or the knight it would simply vanish, only to reappear seconds later to be launched into the other direction toward the sorcerers.

They in turn were unable to stop the reflected magic and when hit died immediately. After only a few minutes more than half of the attackers were dead and the other half were desperately avoiding their own spells, before they finally realized that if they didn't create the bolts none of them would come back to them.

Only six sorcerers were still standing after stopping the spells and all of them were furious, but underneath the anger one could easily see that they were frightened. The tallest among them then stepped forward slightly and faced Merlin.

"This isn't over yet, you can't protect him all the time."

And with that he and his friends disappeared.

.

.

"What the hell was that?" King Uther exclaimed, breaking the unnatural silence in the hall.

Merlin and his companion turned around to face the others and the still nameless knight answered -"well, I thought that was quite obvious? Some sorcerers were trying to kill the king, _again_."

"They didn't try to kill me," corrected Uther scathingly.

"Yeah, I know, I said they tried to kill the _king__, _not you." And turning to Merlin he added "Who's that old fool anyway?"

"How dare you, gua.." Uther exclaimed venomously, however before he could finish his order he was interrupted by none other than Merlin, the second.

"My lord, let me apologize for Sir Galahad's rudeness, but you must understand that he has never had the pleasure of meeting you. And where- well, _when,_ we're from you are no longer the king, your son is. Therefore please forgive his ignorance." That statement successfully shocked everyone. Even Uther stood fast for a moment, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.

After that revelation Merlin could see the differences between him and the other Merlin even more easily. First of all, he was definitely older, how much was hard to say, but certainly over five years. Furthermore the clothes he was wearing were a lot more expensive than any that Merlin could afford right now. He was clad in black breeches, new looking leather shoes, like Arthur had, a dark blue tunic, which changed color if the lighting was different, a well-made jacket and (*_gasp*_) no neckerchief. The only things around his neck were two pendants, which were at the moment well-hidden under his shirt, yet the two heavy looking silver chains, who disappeared under his shirt, indicated that they were there.

The knight next to him, Galahad, was wearing a typical knight's armour (chainmail, belt, boots, red cape, sword) with the addition of two strange arm protectors, which had, if Merlin wasn't mistaken, some rune patterns branded on top, and his cape had a slightly different crest on the back. But before he could investigate further Arthur piped up.

"You're telling us that you two are from the future?"

"Yes, Sire," replied Galahad swiftly.

"_Magic,_" exclaimed Uther with disgust, which only brought him a scowl from the knight and Merlin's attention, who replied "would you rather see your son dead, Sire? It was the only way to save him and you for that matter; none of you would have survived, if they had succeeded with their plan. Also, I can assure you that we act under our lieges orders. Things change…"

Ignoring that ominous ending and the interruption of his father, who was once again silenced, Arthur continued his questioning.

"Those sorcerers are from the future as well?"

"Yes, Sire," the knight answered again.

"And why do they want to kill me, or the past me?"

"Because they can'.." the knight started, but was stopped by Merlin, who raised his hand to cut him off, and continued himself.

"There are several reasons, but none of them are your concern."

"Excuse me? They tried to kill _me_ and as you just said yourself _I_ am your king, therefore you have to answer my questions."

"No, you're not my king, not yet at least. And no- I don't have to answer anything." While stating that Merlin lifted one of the pendants that hung around his neck, which showed the Pendragon's crest- a dragon with intricate patterns surrounding it and a small ruby placed at it's heart.

Uther, who had watched the exchange silently, stared at it astonished before he spoke up.

"Impossible, how did you get that?"

"What is it, father?" the clueless prince interjected.

"This pendant is a sign of absolute trust and loyalty. Trust on the side of the king, who gives it to his most faithful adviser and friend, and loyalty on the side of the receiver, who hereby swears his everlasting servitude. At the same time he gains the right to defy his master's orders, if he thinks it is for the best of the realm. Also, it gives him immunity from prosecution, unless the holder commits treason. For several centuries there has been no king who has made and entrusted one of his subjects with such a pendant, but its shape and form is well-known." Geoffrey, the librarian and adviser, explained after the king motioned to him to do so.

After the explanation Arthur looked positively stunned and dumbstruck.

"You mean I gave that idiot-" he said, pointing at Merlin he continued "the right to do as he pleases without having to fear any consequences… _What was I thinking?"_

The future Merlin listened silently before simply turning and walking toward the exit. When the king (Uther) ordered him to stop he only slowed down a little and called back to Galahad- "protect them, I'll go after the rest of the sorcerers. And call me Emrys," he added to the others, "that'll make it easier to distinguish us." He motioned to the other, younger Merlin, who stared after his future self in awe. Then just before he exited the room Emrys seemed to wave goodbye, and just like that the room reassembled itself magically in front of everyone.

He was so aloof that neither Uther's indignant bellows nor Arthur's shouts bothered him at all, he just left.  
>He couldn't wait till he could do just that, Merlin thought, painfully aware of the seething looks he was getting from the king and his son. And this time it wasn't even <em>his<em> fault!

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><p><strong>Review ? =) please<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry, again rather long wait, but I had some exams and university finally started :*( and I don't have as much time anymore, nevertheless I'll try to post the next one sooner. This chapter is, I think, more of a filler, but needed so hope you'll like it anyway **

**Beta'd by goodythreeshoes.**

**Thank you again for your lovely reviews! (Will reply at a later point) **

**Also, Season 4 started! :D yay **

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3**

And of course Arthur didn't care in the least that it wasn't his Merlin's mistake, as soon as the other Merlin, no, Emrys, was out of earshot, he turned on the younger version and yelled indignantly- "_Mer_lin, do something!"

"What? What am I supposed to do? It's not _me_."

"Yes, it is, you're...I mean _he's_ your future, which means ultimately you're responsible, because you're the brainless twit who's not listening to orders," Arthur decreed, with his twisted, but rather understandable logic.

"That is so not fair," Merlin responded incredulously "and even if it's his... my fault _you're_ the dollop head, who gave.._will_ give me permission to do whatever I want. Who's the brainless twit now?" And realizing that he'd just insulted the prince in the king's presence he hastily added, "Sire."

The tense atmosphere was then broken by a hardly suppressed chuckle coming from the still present Galahad, who then proclaimed, "You two really are the same in every time."

After that statement Uther, who had watched the exchange silently, decided to make sure that after this he would replace Marvin with another servant before he gained more influence on his son. No peasant should possess the power to talk back to a king, especially not his own. And more importantly, no mentally afflicted one, but for now he rather turned his attention to more pressing matters- like questioning the knight.

"Which family are you from?"

"I doubt you'd know them," replied a surprised Galahad.

"Of course I know them; it is a king's duty to know the names of all the noble families under his jurisdiction," Uther stated indignantly.

Galahad only raised an eyebrow and said, "well, there you got the problem then, I'm not a noble."

"But you're a knight," interjected Arthur.

"Yes, Sire, I am, actually I'm one of the round …" frowning slightly, he cut himself off mid-sentence before continuing, "But you wouldn't know what that means yet, so let's just say I'm in the inner circle of your knights."

While Arthur took that news rather well, as he had already considered letting commoners join the knights ranks, Uther immediately protested with his usual arguments. Galahad however was completely unimpressed by the rant and shrugged it off, before repeating what Emrys had said.

"Things change."

Glaring, the king then asked- "then how did you become a knight?"

For a moment there was no answer as Galahad evaluated if an honest reply could possibly have any repercussions for the future, but after a few minutes he apparently decided that the information was harmless, therefore he readily explained.

"When I was younger I lived in a small border town, close to Cenred's kingdom. We were farmers, but I always dreamed of becoming a knight. So, I practiced with a stick as my sword every night. Then one day my village was attacked by a group of renegades, who forced us to provide them with food while they, basically, took over our village. One of us managed to flee and he ran all the way to the citadel to beg for help, but for many of us it arrived too late. Many men and women were slaughtered, including my parents. But then the knights came and with them the king himself, it was the most glorious thing I'd ever seen. They swooped in like it was nothing and killed or captured all of the outlaws in a matter of minutes."

Galahad stopped there and the faraway look in his eyes was enough to tell them that he was remembering that day rather vividly. As he continued, he looked up at Merlin "With them came the king's own servant, other than the occupied knights he made sure that none of us were wounded and treated the ones who were. Halfway through the king came over to check that he wasn't slacking off, and I knew that that was my chance. I ran to him and practically screamed at him to train me."

"He wasn't very impressed, he had other, more important matters to attend to than a boy's fantasies, but Merlin just looked at me and told me to pack my things. He took me in after that and made sure that I was trained by Gw…a knight. Anyway, I proved to be a natural and half a year later I had my final examination and passed, becoming a true knight of Camelot." Galahad's explanation was followed by a stunned silence before Arthur disrupted it.

"You're _Merlin's_ ward." he stated, with quite a large amount of disbelief in his voice.

"Yeah, you could say that."

Turning to Merlin Arthur concluded "I pay you too much."

"_What_?" exclaimed Merlin shocked, while thinking, _'how the hell does he always come up with these ridiculous ideas?'_

The prince didn't even deign to answer that, he simply turned back to the knight from the future, who was still being interrogated by Uther. The king had once again put the previously discussed matter aside though he was going to talk to his son about his lax future leadership. Magic _and_ commoner knights- some things were going seriously wrong in the future.

"How did you reflect those spells?"

Motioning to his arm protectors, Galahad answered, "protection runes. They repel all magic which is used with the intent of harming the wearer." However, he purposely left out the part where the runes alone could only do so much and Merlin had actually used his powers. Some things were better left unsaid.

"These runes aren't really magic?" Uther inquired.

"No, not really."

"Then we could use it to help us defend against magic?" Arthur jumped in hopefully.

"Yes, and no. If you yourself found out about the runes, you could use them all you like, but I can't tell you how they work. Could change the future and all that.." Upon hearing that Uther and Arthur visibly deflated a little as they had thought that there was finally something to prevent magical attacks, only to have it snatched away at the last moment.

"Fine," Arthur snarled "and what exactly are we supposed to do now; while _Merlin_ of all people is hunting sorcerers?"

"Oh don't worry 'bout that, I'm still here to protect you, and you can just go on and do whatever it is you do. The only difference being that I'll follow you around, discreetly of course."

Exchanging a look with his father, who appeared to be just as clueless, Arthur snorted quietly, nodded to the king and announced that he had a training to supervise before he swiftly left the hall. Merlin, still standing on his spot in the hall, merrily counted down from five.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

"_**MER**_**lin**!" Grinning in delight at having successfully annoyed his master the young warlock slowly followed the prat and was soon joined by Sir Galahad, who looked quite amused himself and muttered, "some things never change…"

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><p><strong>Review pls =D<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Okayy, so the updating sooner didn't quite work out, sorry, have a lot to do right now...Not so sure about the chapter, but well...**

**Beta = goodythreeshoes ;D thx for your amazing work! **

**Thanks for the reviews and alerts/favorites appreciate it =D **

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything! **

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4**

In Camelot news travelled fast about the visitors from the future, so when Arthur, Merlin and Galahad arrived at the training fields everyone already knew who the young, blonde knight was. The present knights all seemed quite interested in their future companion and quietly observed him, probably trying to gauge his strength and fighting skills.

During the sparring several of them, including Arthur, kept glancing to the side lines where he was standing next to Merlin, obviously barely able to keep their curiosity in check. A short while later Arthur, aware that he would never get any proper training done today if his knights kept staring at the newcomer, jogged over to Galahad and half ordered, half asked-

"Mind to join us?"

"I don't think that would be such a good idea," Galahad replied hesitantly.

"Why?" shouted one of the younger knights who was watching from the background. "Afraid you'll not live up to the standards of a knight of Camelot?"

Narrowing his eyes slightly at the taunt, the visitor from the future silently reasoned with himself and then decided that there really shouldn't be any repercussions for the time continuum if he joined the training. It wasn't as if he was going to show them anything new.

So, while unclasping his cloak he said, "all right, let's see the difference between past and future." He quickly handed the material to Merlin and drew his swords. Yes, swords, plural. What most had missed up till now, was that he was not only carrying one sword, but two, one always carefully hidden on his back underneath his cloak. That he drew them both simultaneously caught them all off guard, especially since there were only few who specialised in fighting with two swords, as it was quite a difficult discipline. Even Arthur, who was well versed in the style, had not completely mastered it... yet.

Seemingly not noticing the incredulous stares Galahad moved forward to stand in front of the young knight who had challenged him, ready to 'spar'.

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><p>Meanwhile in Camelot things were about to get interesting. In a forest in the far north a 'hunt' was well under way. Emrys, or Merlin the older, was currently running through the woods with incredible speed, which was fuelled by his magic. In front of him, only a few hundred meters away, three of the escapee sorcerers were trying to evade him, with moderate success.<p>

And the only reason they were still on the run was that Emrys wanted answers. They had come to the past, using a spell that was extremely difficult and took a lot of power, (if you weren't Emrys, of course.) While it could just be a straight forward try to kill Arthur, there could also be something more behind it.

Naturally, it would be a possibility to catch them with his magic, but as Arthur rightly reminded him every time he wanted to- _"It's too dangerous... you trip over your own feet, how do you think you'd manage to disarm them without blowing their heads off?"_...and that had _so _been an accident. Maybe his weak lightning bolt had taken the enemies heads off and his attempt at holding them with tree branches may have strangled them unintentionally, but he was working on that. No one was perfect on the first try... or the fifth.

But moving on, Merlin decided to push his luck. There were three of them, and he only needed one, which left at least a 33% success rate. Nice enough odds.

_"þu you ásælest híe ." _Eyes flashing gold Merlin watched as the trees responded to his call and their branches whipped forward to bind the sorcerers. Only one of them reacted fast enough to escape the first strike, which turned out to be good for him as the other two were nearly ripped in half by the branches. _Oops._ Toning down his magic a little Merlin managed to steady the attack, before the last sorcerer was caught in the net of branches. Thankfully he survived the initial contact and now hung loosely in his prison above the ground.

However, Merlin's joy at having captured one of them alive soon turned into frustration when said prisoner committed suicide, by using his limited magical power to impale himself on a branch. But even though that annoyed him to no end, he was now also sure that his suspicions were correct. There was something they were trying to hide, because otherwise he wouldn't have killed himself.

Knowing that there was nothing he could do for now, as he had lost trace of the other missing sorcerers, he decided to return to the citadel for the time being. He had some scrying to do, and he also had to check that a certain hot-headed knight hadn't gotten himself into trouble.

He transported himself close to the castle and after checking the time he walked to the training grounds, where he stumbled upon quite an interesting scene.

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><p>His younger self was standing on the side laughing his arse off, while cheering for Galahad, who was at the moment beating the crap out of the present knights. Arthur and a few of the older knights were on the sides staring half shocked, half amazed at the way Galahad fought. The blonde hadn't been kidding when he said he was a natural. Even in the future there were only a few knights who could best him, Arthur being one of them.<p>

Arthur, apparently annoyed by the fact that his servant supported the 'wrong' side, walked over to him briskly and tried to shut him up.

"_Mer_lin, would you shut up!"

"Why?" responded the raven haired boy cheekily. "I have to encourage my future ward or foster son... whichever, it would be rude not to." At that point it was hard to miss the glee in his eyes, boy was he having fun.

Having bested all his challengers Galahad made to leave the field, when Arthur, still glaring at his manservant along with many of his knights, walked forward to take his turn. Merlin was already literally jumping with excitement, oh how the prat was going to get his arse handed to him! He couldn't wait.

Unfortunately before the other knight had a chance to answer, his own future self ruined the fun by stepping in.

"Galahad." One little word and the knight was already hurrying over to Emrys, who simply nodded at Arthur and the others, thinking _God, was it hard to keep his expression free of emotions._

Merlin only thought, _damn_- it would have been so nice to see Arthur's ego cut down to size.

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><p><strong>Review?<strong>

**þu you ásælest híe: Bind them! (hopefully that's what it means..^^)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Next chapter's here =D Sorry for the delay again and hope you'll like it, thanks for your lovely reviews and enjoy!**

**Beta'd by goodythreeshoes =) thanks for the great work! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything! ^^'**

**Chapter 5**

After heading a little to the side, so that none of the others could overhear their talk, Emrys turned back to Galahad and threw him a stern look, accompanied by a simple "Gal…"

"Yeah, I know, I know, but he called me a coward, so I had to pr-" interrupting his foster son, Merlin cut in.

"Huh, I really shouldn't have let you play with Arthur when you were still young and susceptible. Had I only known his ego was contagious…"trailing off, he stared wistfully back at his past self. "Maybe I should warn myself in advance."

Aware that he was off the hook Galahad snorted with laughter at his guardian's antics and fondly remembered the many training/play hours he'd had with the king, where the latter had taught him about honour and knightly values. He would never forget the one time Arthur made him his sparring partner for the day; it was amazing. Sure, he was battered and bruised all over afterwards, but he'd learnt more than ever before. And it was quite hilarious to watch his new father go ballistic, after he'd found him that way.

He didn't know what had happened exactly between the two in the subsequent argument, but rumour had it that "Pratdragon" and a donkey had had some part in Merlin's rampage. Unfortunately though, both men kept absolutely quiet about what had really happened. But apparently Arthur had gotten through to his servant on some level, as he trained with Galahad on several occasions in the future. However, now that he thought of it he'd never been that bruised since…

Brought out of his musings by Emrys's rather peeved look, as he'd most likely guessed what he was thinking about, Galahad quickly activated his puppy-dog eyes, which never failed to appease him, and innocently asked-"anyway, what did you discover?"

"Found three of them," was the short, clipped answer.

"Great, so we can question-"

"All dead."

The blonde knight raised his eyes at that answer, and replied cautiously. "Ah…you didn't try to catch them with magic by any chance, did you?"

As an answer Merlin narrowed his eyes in annoyance and promptly left after an indignant, "that could have happened to anyone!"

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><p>Stood in front of one of the windows overlooking the training fields, Uther Pendragon- present king of Camelot and persecutor of magic in its every form- watched the two men from the future during their private conversation. While on the outside he had apparently accepted the fact that his son was allowing magic, inside he was still seething. Every time he spotted one of the two he was reminded of his failure. Not even his own son followed and implemented his most sacred law!<p>

On the one hand, he naturally understood that in this instance magic was little more than a means to an end, but even so… _magic. _The very thought of sorcerers running free in _his _kingdom drove him crazy. Only the thought that Marvin, that imbecile, was said sorcerer made it slightly better, as he was simply too dumb to plot something maliciously.

But in any case he would have to make sure that all magic users were snuffed out before his son succeeded him. Logically, there was no need of magical defenders, if all the attackers were 'taken care of'.

As for the present Marvin, Uther decided to watch him very carefully from now on.

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><p><em>A few hours later.<em>

Frustrated after several hours of useless scrying, which wasn't in any way related to his lack of skill in that particular kind of magic, Emrys wandered through the castle aimlessly. He was thinking about how to find the trail of the escapees when he coincidentally crossed paths with Arthur. At first it seemed as if the prince was simply going to ignore him, but eventually he acknowledged Emrys's presence.

"Do tell, _Mer_lin, what can I do to make your past self as quiet and docile?" He asked, mockingly.

For a moment he considered just walking away, while Arthur certainly meant that question as a joke, for him, (and probably everyone in the future,) it held a lot more meaning. Sighing to himself in defeat Merlin let his new, _wise_ self take over and replied "quite easily, Sire, just start a war, kill his mother and make him your main advisor." Already walking on he called back- "oh, and don't forget to make a few assassination attempts on both yourself and him, let's say every five days…yes, that should do the trick."

Without waiting for an answer Merlin turned the corner and disappeared in the depths of the castle, leaving behind a gaping, dumbfounded and then pensive prince. Hopefully, next time he would think more carefully before he spoke.

Suddenly frowning, Merlin thought completely shocked- _'Damn, future Arthur was right. He is the prat-light version of his older self.'_ Looking around, paranoid, he added mischievously-_'as if I'm ever going to tell him he was right ... I'd never hear the end of it.'_

.

Both Emrys and Merlin awoke with a start that night. Unlike everyone else in Camelot they could feel something that wasn't part of the natural balance. A huge burst of power had been released somewhere far from Camelot and while Merlin had no idea what the heck had just happened, Emrys had an idea and it wasn't good, not at all.

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><p><strong>Review? please =D<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**And next chapter, wasn't that fast^^ hope you like it and thanks again for the lovely reviews! =D **

**Just to clear something up, which I think got kind of lost, Uther thinks Merlin will study magic in the future, so right now he still is the dumb, useless servant, he's nevertheless suspicious about him but for now there is no reason to kill him…yet**

**Beta'd by goodythreeshoes =D **

**Disclaimer: Still don't!**

**Enjoy...**

**Chapter 6**

The next morning anyone who had anything to say in Camelot was gathered in the council chambers to discuss recent events. Uther also used this opportunity to once again ensure that his son understood the vile nature of magic. This time, however, that discussion proved rather difficult. Before Arthur had always accepted his word and agreed dutifully… but now he hesitated, just the tiniest fraction of a second, and yet it was enough. Whatever had happened in the meantime between him and the visitors from the future, it had changed his perceptive and that Uther could not tolerate.

However, before he could launch into his usual speech the door to the chambers burst open and Galahad came rushing in. He walked swiftly over to Arthur and without saying anything, fixed two of those new, runed arm-guards over his wrists.

"Hey, what are you doing?" exclaimed Arthur indignantly.

"Sorry Sire, just readjusting," replied Galahad, while adding on a strange necklace around Arthur's neck. "And please don't take those things off. It would also be best if you wouldn't leave the citadel without me or Emrys in the foreseeable future," he continued.

"Why?" inquired Uther.

"Uh, just some minor…inconveniences, nothing to worry about." _If a whole army of bad guys is minor, _he thought.

"Where's Mer…" seeing his servant glance up at him, Arthur corrected himself. "Where's Emrys?"

Galahad acknowledged all the expectant looks, but only said, "he's busy."

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><p>Hundreds of miles south of Camelot Emrys walked out into the middle of what would be an inconspicuous looking field, were it not for the trampled grass and the numerous footprints leading away from it. From the looks of it an entire army had appeared here last night; and judging by the prints it was not only their human adversaries that had come through, but also several different magical beasts.<p>

Sighing heavily, Emrys buried all his hopes for a little problem and uncovered his worst case scenarios from where he had stuffed them before they had undergone the time travelling. And yes, this was number one.

Being in the past. Having no real magical defence placed around the citadel. No King Arthur. No experienced knights, who had been trained to fight against magic-real training, not what Uther had _his _knights do. And a huge army of foes…

Suddenly a thought struck Merlin and he started to grin widely.

"Oh, I am so brilliant," conveniently ignoring the voice in his mind, (which sounded suspiciously like Arthur, and was saying _yeah right, you- brilliant? Haha, moron._)

Swatting away that thought,(which definitely indicated that he was spending entirely too much time with Arthur and should take some time off soon,) he returned to his former thoughts. Observing the field again he roughly counted the new arrivals and compared the numbers to what they knew about the enemy.

The end result was much like he had anticipated, they'd all come, well nearly all. Just a few were probably still in the future, so almost the entire army had been transported to the past. Therefore none were left over there, which meant he could get reinforcements as well.

So it seemed the battle for the future was going to be fought in the past.

* * *

><p>Back in Camelot even the most clueless person would have noticed that something was going on. Merlin figured that it was all connected to that thing he had felt yesterday, but all his tries to find out what exactly was going on had been blocked by Galahad, who of course wasn't answering any questions. As expected Uther was seething that he couldn't get any straight replies out of him, and even Arthur, who was now under constant watch by the blonde knight, was getting quite frustrated.<p>

They all wanted to know what was going on, but apparently there would be no answers till Emrys had returned to Camelot. And even then it was questionable if they would receive an explanation.

Merlin was on the one hand still excited and thrilled that he'd met his future self, but at the same time he wished he'd trust himself a little more, if that made any sense… like all the others he had been left in the dark and he didn't like it one bit. Usually _he_ was the one who knew all the secrets, and soon he would again.

Having snuck away from his duties for a little while, Merlin snatched up his magic book and plopped onto his bed. It was time to find a spell which would help him uncover some information.

.

Hours later he finally found a spell that could resolve his clueless state, but just when he was about to use it, there was gust of wind behind him followed by his own voice.

"You really shouldn't do that."

Startled, Merlin yelped and jumped of his bed, whirling around to face himself.

"I know it's maddening to not know what's going on, but just this time, it would be best if you just waited a few years."

"Oh come on, just a little?" Merlin pleaded, holding his thumb and index finger up with only a small space in-between.

Laughing for the first time, Emrys said, "all right, all right. As it happens I could use some help."

"I knew it! What is it, what can I do? Uh, can I do some fancy magic- or can I pretend I'm you and lecture Arthur real good, or, or…"

"Slow down, slow down, as much as I'd like to give you a shot at scolding Arthur, there is something we need to do first. And it's quite advanced magic at that."

"Okay, can I do the others later?"

"Why not? Now come on. We have lots of preparation to do."

Together the two Merlins left the citadel and headed to the empty, dark training grounds, where Emrys immediately started to draw runes on the ground using some kind of powder. Merlin, the younger, only watched- intrigued and yet completely clueless. He really couldn't wait till he was that knowledgeable.

Apparently finished with the drawings Emrys once again turned to his younger self.

"Good. So now, we're going to combine our magic, so that the spell is completed in a tenth of the time it usually takes."

"A tenth?"

"Yeah. For me alone the time is already shortened considerably, but with the two of us combined, let's just say it's like child's play." Nodding in comprehension Merlin joined hands with Emrys and dutifully repeated the spell the other chanted.

.

What felt like an eternity later they could feel the hum of magic in the air, which preceded the opening of an enormous portal. Just like a few days earlier Merlin watched as the figures within the sphere slowly took form and finally materialized in the field.

"Missed me already, _Mer_lin?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Next chapter's here =D Sorry for the wait, my computer broke down completely and I had to get something to write on for now, just to make it even more fun the replacement has no working spell-checker... so really sorry for any typos. **

**Hope you'll enjoy it anyway! :D thanks for the lovely reviews and a special Thank you goes to FireChildSlytherin5 for great ideas and help! Thanks =D **

**Discl.: Stíll don't own anything...**

**Chapter 7**

Dumbfounded Merlin gaped at the sight before him.

Where there had been just an empty area before now stood hundreds of knights in orderly rows, all of them wearing pendragon-red capes. Slightly in front of them were five knights with a different insignia on their capes, marking them as the elite, and before them was their leader.

Clad in splendid armour, and wearing a crown atop his blonde head, he looked like a being of heavenly origin, especially as the sun had risen behind him and illuminated his features. And had he not addressed his future self like that Merlin would have had a hard time believing this was really Prin- no King Arthur. Their appearance was basically the same, with the only difference being their age, but at the same time they were nothing alike. Surely he was still the same arrogant, pompous prat, however, on a deeper level he was more restrained.

There was a darker feel to him than to his younger self, as if the weight of the world had been put upon his shoulders, made him harder and…

"Looking as dumb as ever, eh _Mer_lin?"

…or maybe not.

"Don't tease him Arthur, he's probably just realized he'd have to deal with your even bigger ego in the future." interfered Emrys on his behalf. "And we have other things to worry about right now than my brains or your lack thereof."

Laughing out loud Arthur turned around to his army and shouted "Secure the castle." Sprung into motion all soldiers, except the five elites, efficiently organised themselves into groups and hurriedly disappeared into all directions.

"Uhm.." Past Merlin started uncertainly "I don't really think Uther will be very happy with that."

"Why? Because his castle will be actually _secure_ for once?" countered King Arthur. "But I guess you're right, then let's visit daddy dearest, shall we?"

Starting into the direction of the throne room Arthur was halted by Emrys, with nothing more but the sound of his name, and a discerning look. He stopped briefly and returned his friends gaze, before he abruptly nodded and left, followed close by his five men. Emrys only sighed in relief and made to follow, when he noticed that Merlin was still rooted to the spot looking completely bewildered. Waving his hand in front of his past self he snapped him out of his stupor and asked if everything was alright.

"Ye-eah…" staring after the king, then Merlin exclaimed shocked "Did he just freely admit that I was right?" smiling Emrys only replied "Well, like Arthur always says 'Wonders never cease'."

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><p><em>Throne room<em>

Uther had been contemplating on what to do about the whole situation, when the door was flung open and a hysteric guard rushed in screaming "They're taking over the city!"

"Who is?" bellowed Uther

"Th-he knights."

"That's ridiculous." Countered Arthur, who had just entered the room with his ever present bodyguard behind him, "Why should our own men take over the citadel, when they're tasked to secure it to begin with.?"

"But they're not our men." Uther was about to shout in outrage when another, well-known voice entered the fray.

"No, they're mine." stated someone from the entrance.

Uther whirled around and upon seeing who had spoken he completely froze and gaped, much like Merlin had done before. Close to the doors stood Arthur, but unlike his son this one wore a magnificent crown and exuded an aura of confidence and authority. Uther had met many kings during his rule, however, none of them had ever looked like his son did now, as if he had been born to rule.

The strange silence, which had descended upon the room, was then lifted as Galahad rushed forward exitedly to greet his king. Also, five knights entered and positioned themselves behind Arthur. Four of them were completely unknown to the people at the present time, only the fifth knight was familiar. Sir Leon, currently one of Camelot's most trusted knights, was standing there, watching Arthur's back like so many times in the past.

Uther, who had in the meantime recovered from his shock, hastily sent the guards and other spectators out, before demanding an explanation for this new development. And especially why there were 'future' soldiers replacing his men.

Waiting for an answer Uther looked at his son stoically, but to his surprise Merlin took the lead instead.

"As I'm sure Galahad informed you the situation has changed drastically. An army from the future arrived last night. It appears that nearly all our adversaries have come to the past, so I decided to get back-up in order to fight them efficiently.

Of course, upon hearing that Uther was close to break into another rant about magic, but fortunately he was stopped by (present) Arthur's reply.

"That was a little rash, don't you think? There are enough able knights and soldiers to protect Camelot. We don't need help, thank you very much, but we can deal with the threat ourselves."

For a split second it was gravely still in the room, that was before King Arthur burst out laughing, soon joined by the chuckles of his men. Arthur, short-tempered as always, cut in angrily "I don't see what's so funny?" Pulling himself together King Arthur replied jovially " Let me put it this way, neither you nor any other warrior in this citadel, hell probably even in the entire realm, would be able to beat Merlin here."

_'Oh dear.._' Emrys thought darkly, as he could easily see where this was going, judging from the mutinous look on Prince Arthur's face. And yep, moments later a gauntlet, which had been conveniently close to hand, hit the floor in front of him, courtesy of the younger blonde.

He looked at it with disdain, before glaring at his Arthur murderously. _'He so did that on purpose!'_ When he didn't respond immediately the younger prat boasted gleefully "Scared _Mer_lin, don't worry I'll go easy on you."

Galahad, his ever faithful son, promptly came to his defence with a "Don't be ridiculous, he's going to wipe the floor with you." and then realising he had just addressed his future king like that he turned to the older blond and smiled sheepishly.

Incidentally that was the moment Merlin, the younger, entered the throne room, completely oblivious of the strained atmosphere. Well until he got The Glare from his master and subsequently stumbled over his own feet, and he could have sworn he heard Arthur mumble scoffingly "Wipe the floor with me, hah, hilarious."

On the other side of the room Emrys rolled his eyes in exasperation and bent forward to pick up the offending gauntlet, accepting the challenge. Before he could even right himself again Arthur bellowed "Noon, today, on training fields, be there...punctual." Then he swept out of the room without another word, only shouting for Merlin to follow. Exchanging a confused look with his future self his servant hurried after him.

.

Now with the distractions finally over Uther took control of the conversation and asked the most important question, "Why for god's sake are you allowing and using magic in **_my_** kingdom?"

In an instant the nice, jovial, future king was gone and in his place stood an entirely different person. His whole demeanor was suddenly frosty and distant.

"Don't you dare.." he started angrily, before cutting himself off. Taking a deep breath he continued in a more restrained manner "You have no right to question my decisions."

"I'm your father, I have every right to.."

"No you don't, not anymore. I'm no longer the clueless boy who idealises and looks up to you, I know too much for that." And with that puzzling claim the blonde left the throne room with his guards and Merlin trailing behind.

Uther alone remained there, seated on his throne and worrying over what he'd just heard. It seemed as if his worst nightmare had come true.

His son knew the truth...

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><p><strong>Review :D please<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**So, I got to say this chapter was a little hard for me, cause I personally think I'm crap at writing fighting scenes (that's also why I keep them so short^^), but we'll see...Please do let me know what you thought and I hope you'll enjoy it. (Sorry for any mistakes still unbeta'd)**

**Oh and thanks again for all the lovely reviews! :D **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Merlin...**

**Chapter 8**

Shortly before noon Merlin, who had finally found out about the challenge, was hurrying towards the training grounds, buzzing with excitement and mentally chanting _'Arthur's going to get his ass kicked.'_ He had just turned a corner when an unfamiliar voice, coming from behind, made him jump in surprise.

"You wouldn't happen to have any mead, would you?" Startled Merlin whirled around and spotted one of Arthur's elite knights standing in an alcove. Leaning against the wall casually the other was smiling at him jovially, but still somewhat expectantly. It was the one Merlin had silently named 'the Rogue', because of his shoulder-long hair and unkempt appearance.

Remembering that he still had to answer the question he abandoned his musings and hesitantly replied "Uhm..no."

"Shame." And producing a pitcher out of nowhere he continued "Thank God I brought some then." before taking a swig from it.

"I'm Gwaine, by the way." Shaking the offered hand Merlin replied somewhat stupidly "Merlin…but I guess you know that already…"

"Yeah, must be strange to meet people who met you, when you haven't actually met them...if that made any sense. But don't you worry you'll have the pleasure of my company soon enough. Now, come along, we wouldn't want to miss the Princess' defeat." Steering his new friend into action the two left the castle.

Merlin, for his part, found himself with a laughing fit and an even stronger desire to learn about the future. Glancing at his newest friend he decided to voice one of the questions that had nagged him since the arrival of the future army.

"Do you know a guy called Lancelot..?"

* * *

><p>In the meantime at the training fields three types of onlookers took their places around the area. On one side the future knights, some soldiers and of course King Arthur positioned themselves to 'cheer' for Emrys, on the opposing side Prince Arthur's supporters were gathering; the past knights, several nobles, the Lady Morgana, her maid and naturally the current king, Uther. The two remaining spaces in between were seemingly considered neutral ground and populated by a variety of curious, but impartial people.<p>

When Gwaine and Merlin arrived down there, the former immediately made his way over to his friends, while the raven-head however had no idea where to stand. People would frown if he didn't cheer for his master, but on the other hand he couldn't really not support his future self. Sighing he guessed neutral area would be the best choic-

"_Merlin_, come on, I'm going to introduce you to the guys." Shouted Gwaine over his shoulder. Naturally, his curiosity effectively cancelled out his worries and he practically run after the other man. He still couldn't quite believe his luck in meeting the boisterous knight, because unlike the others from the future he had no problem with actually answering questions.

_Flashback_

"Do you know a guy called Lancelot..?"

"Lance? Sure do, why?"

"Why didn't he come with you? I mean he's an 'elite' knight too, right?"

"Course, he is. And let's just say he's currently castle-sitting."

_Flashback end_

Still smiling triumphantly about having acquired that titbit of information, he vowed himself to spend some more quality time with Sir Gwaine. Said man had by now reached his companions and dragged them, except Sir Leon, who stayed with the king, over to meet the young warlock halfway. Then gesturing to each knight respectively he introduced them, starting with the bear of a man right next to him "This is my buddy Percival, the handsome fellow next to him is Tristan and those two are Erec and Yvain, brothers and terrible lightweights at drinking."

Nodding and smiling at each one of them Merlin noted that, despite his intimidating size and, Percival gave off an aura of kindness. Next to him the brown haired Tristan appeared rather girlish, because of his lean built and impeccable appearance. The brothers, Erec and Yvain, were both blonde and looked rather bland, but he had no doubt that those two could fight, especially if their countless weapons were anything to go by.

Before he could say or do anything else the castle bell announced that it was now noon. Not one to arrive late, Arthur promptly made his grand entrance, in full armour and with his favourite sword at the ready.

The only differences to normal spars being the huge crowd and that Merlin obviously wasn't standing behind him, preparing to hold his cloak or carrying 'refreshments'. Instead, a nameless servant was in his place, not that Merlin particularly minded. In fact, when Arthur had told him that he wouldn't require his assistance this time, he had only shrugged and hurriedly left to enjoy his free time.

Although Merlin had the suspicion that the blonde thought he would try to manipulate him to go easy on his other self or outright try to sabotage him. Yeah, because making his armour too tight or dropping his sword a few times would make such a big difference…

Catching his master's sharp look at seeing him in the 'enemy's corner' Merlin quickly excused himself from the future knights and joined the neutral grounds. Closer to Arthur's side of course.

A few minutes later his older-self entered the 'arena', clad in chainmail and armguards only. Before he took his place opposite Arthur he walked to his King and they exchange a few words. Lastly, nodding once, Emrys joined the prince in the middle of the field and after a short proclamation from Uther the fight began.

.

Whirling into action immediately Arthur attacked mercilessly. Using one of his combinations he showered Emrys with blows, right – left – head – left – feinted right changed to a direct thrust. He partially even moved so fast that the spectators had difficulties following his movements, but even so he had not once broken through his opponents defence. Emrys was fast and for now simply deflected every blow without effort. Realizing that his approach wasn't working Arthur pulled back and circled Emrys, who followed his lead.

The onlookers around the field were perfectly still, most had expected Arthur to win hands down, but now they weren't so sure anymore. The prince was fighting brilliantly, however, Emrys hadn't even retaliated yet and it was quite clear that his skills were superior. The only people who had expected that outcome from the very beginning were those from the future; heck not even Merlin had anticipated that Emrys would be so good.

Seemingly tired of circling Emrys stopped and mock questioned "Ready?" before running at Arthur full speed, brandishing his sword expertly. Seconds later the prince was swamped with blows and hard pressed to defend, several times only managing to block at the very last moment.

And then the unimaginable happened.. Emrys broke through Arthur's defence and literally swept him off his feet. Pointing his sword at the shocked prince's throat he asked "Do you yi-" Before he finished his sentence Emrys suddenly froze and tilting his head slightly he listened to something only he could hear.

After a few seconds his eyes widened comically and he shot forward to cover the fallen prince with his body, while simultaneously shouting "Get down!" Reacting on pure instinct the people threw themselves on the ground, but for some it was already too late, as the world around them burst into flames…

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><p><strong>Review? =D<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Hope you'll enjoy the chapter :D thanks for the reviews!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything =)**

**Chapter 9**

Emrys' first thought when he regained consciousness was 'How the hell did they get past my wards?' only after that did he regard his surroundings and look for the enemy. Around him most people were still on the floor, taking cover from fire balls and the occasional magical creature. The majority seemed to have survived the initial explosion that had been triggered by the destruction of his protection wards.

Halfway across the field he could also see his king, who had already gotten up and was busy shouting orders to the knights. Tristan, Erec and Yvain then left Arthur's side and started to empty the field of innocent bystanders, while the others slowly approached his past self. From here it looked as if he'd been knocked out cold and wouldn't wake up any time soon, which was rather inconvenient as he could have helped them…

Absorbed in his contemplations Emrys completely forgot that he was lying on top of Prince Arthur, who was by now very irritated and promptly made himself noticeable by shouting directly into his left ear "Would you get of me already!"

Startled Emrys turned to look at him and after smiling sheepishly he mumbled "Oh, sorry.." before he rolled off him and got up. Arthur stood up hastily and grabbed his discarded sword in the process, readying himself to fight.

"Whoa, what do you think you're doing?" exclaimed the raven head, as the prince tried to move past him.

"Fight the bad guys." Deadpanned the annoyed royal.

"Uh-uh, don't think so, **you're** going back inside and hide."

"Forget it, I'm Pri-"

"Yeah, yeah you're Prince Arthur, prat extraordinaire, and it's your duty to blah blah, sorry not this time. We'll take it from here." And as if they'd planned it in advance King Arthur turned up beside him right that moment, solidifying his point.

"Bu-"

"No buts, go." Arthur, the older, interjected and motioned for Leon and Galahad, who was carrying his future guardian over his shoulder, to accompany the blonde back inside the citadel and probably also to make sure that he stayed there. For a moment the prince looked like a petulant child, who'd just been robbed of its favourite toy and was about to throw a fit, but then he composed himself and spat "Fine." before he practically stomped off toward the castle, closely followed by the two knights.

The field was now rapidly vacated as all past people hurried inside, even Uther, who was even more reluctant than his son. But then again it couldn't be easy to leave one's safety in the hands of other people, unable to do anything at all, even when it was his son's future self.

In the meantime the men, that had arrived with the blonde king and which were already spread over all of Camelot city took defence positions, readying themselves for an attack.

And in the forest closest to the field, shadows started to move beyond the cover of the trees. Soon though rows upon rows of foot soldiers, sorcerers, and the occasional beast broke through the line of trees and marched toward the castle.

Watching the advancing opponents he could spot from the field, King Arthur calmly turned to his right hand man and stated matter-of-factly "You didn't stumble _or_ drop your sword."

Having already expected that Merlin only said succinctly, "Pure skill."

"Skill?" repeated Arthur, raising an eyebrow much like Gaius would have.

A little shifty the other replied "Yah…well they never said no magic…and it's my best skill."

"Really now, then how did they get past your wards that easily?" Arthur questioned more seriously this time, pointing to the army, the fire balls raining down upon them and the overhead flying creatures, who were trying to kill the two of them, but failed due to Merlin's activated personal shields.

Sighing heavily the warlock regarded their foes warily and confessed "That I don't know…yet."

"Uh-huh." Luckily for Merlin before Arthur could go into more detail, Leon and the others returned from their 'mission'.

"Everyone's inside, Sire." Assured Leon, while simultaneously presenting the two armguards that Arthur, the younger, had been wearing "He still has the amulet as you wished."

"Good." And with that Arthur faced the invading forces defiantly and smirked. Had anyone of this time seen him, they'd probably suspected him to be mad, but his knights, for once as clueless as everyone else, except Merlin of course, only shrugged and waited for the punch line.

After exchanging one last look with his sorcerer, and a murmured "This better work, _Mer_lin." He then raised both hands in front of himself, held apart and palms facing inwards, before he loudly banged his armguards together…

Several seconds passed and _nothing…_Next to the blonde, Merlin silently willed it to work, knowing the knights and Arthur would tease him mercilessly, if another one of his designed spells failed initially, like with the normal armguards everyone else wore. It had taken him forever to get them right an- Feeling a sudden change in the surroundings he stopped his negative thinking and screamed triumphantly "Yes!"

And just like that a blue light started spreading over the runes of the armguards, revealing two light blue crystals at their centre. Apparently following a certain sequence some of the runes started to glow brightly and finally an intricate pattern was formed, which stayed alight for a moment before it died down again.

'_Oh come on. Please, please work..._' chanted a nervously hopping Merlin. As if answering the warlock's pleas the crystals lit up once more, this time followed by a steady stream of blue light, which abruptly expanded and rapidly encased all of Camelot with an enormous shield.

The beasts in the sky screeched in terror as it reached them, unable to escape it. Soon they were completely surrounded and with a final roar they were crushed by the protective force; as were the front lines of men, who had come to close to the city. After those threats were eradicated the shield settled itself and with a final pulse disappeared. However, an attempt by their foes revealed that it was now invisible to the naked eye, but still guarding the city.

"Not bad." Admitted Arthur reluctantly.

"What do you mean not bad? That was absolutely amazing." As a reply the blonde only rolled his eyes and walked away.

* * *

><p>In the throne room Uther and Arthur were pacing impatiently for what seemed like hours, before finally the door opened and their 'friends' from the future entered. Uther of course immediately demanded to know what was going on, so Emrys quickly explained what had happened and that there now was a nearly impregnable barrier around the citadel and lower town.<p>

"So, you trapped us inside, how's that helping."

"Ah, no don't worry, we can leave without problem, at least those with the special armguards."

"Then why did you take mine away?" cried Arthur incredulously.

"'Cause we can't have you running off playing hero, it's not part of the plan."

"You have a plan?"

"Yep, and all we need for it to work is to borrow me- your servant."

"_MER_lin? You can't be serious"

.

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><p><strong>Review =) pls tell me what you thought<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**I know, I know.. I made you wait ridiculously long, but first I had exams, then I got really lazy followed by no idea what to write... this finally came to mind today so I hope you'll like it and forgive me for the delay. Also, sorry for any mistakes I have only quickly read throught it again so there probably are still some mistakes, hope it's not too bad and I'll try to revise soon! **

**Thanks for the lovely reviews until now and pls keep it up. =) **

**Disclaimer: Still don't..**

**Chapter 10**

Not for the first time that day did Merlin wonder why oh why he'd accepted the 'mission' King Arthur had given him. Of course, at first he'd been thrilled to be able to help and do something, but that had changed pretty fast. It certainly wasn't as much fun as he'd thought it would be, but then again how could he ever have believed that being bait would be exciting? Terrifying, yes, exciting not so much.

Now, as he was running away from an army of bad guys, with no weapons, pretending to be Emrys, he just wished he hadn't woken up yet. He could still be blissfully unconscious without a care in the world…

_Flashback_

"Rise and shine sleepy head."

The irritatingly cheerful voice roused Merlin from his deep slumber, and judging by his splitting headache he hadn't been out that long. Groaning he slowly opened his eyes, clutching his aching head with his hand, blinking rapidly to re-accustom himself with the blinding light, before he could finally make out what or rather who was with him.

Hovering only inches above him was King Arthur, smirking evilly, "Now, you know just how it feels to be woken up like that _every single_ day." Righting himself the blonde then only told him to get his ass out of bed and to join them in Gaius' chambers pronto.

_Flashback end_

Looking back Merlin cursed his own stupidity for following that order. Normally he had no problem with simply ignoring everything Arthur told him to do. Even now he couldn't say what came over him in that moment…

But instead of going back to his well-deserved rest he had practically crawled out of bed, made himself a little more presentable and joined the group in Gaius' chambers. Apart from the normal inhabitant, only King Arthur and Emrys had been in the room, which in itself was strange as Uther had made it quite clear, several times, that he didn't want them to be left alone while roaming his castle. Anyway, right after Merlin had joined them Arthur had presented his proposition, which at the time sounded rather exciting and reasonable.

_All_ he had to do was distract the enemy while the future people would prepare a devastating blow, which would apparently cripple their opposition forever. Not that anyone knew what that plan entailed exactly, the only part Emrys and Arthur had disclosed was Merlin's fun trip to the enemy's stronghold. And wasn't that just reassuring? But again Merlin had ignored the numerous ways he could quite possibly die on that mission and accepted it. Now, being where he was, he himself wondered if he truly had that mental affliction, because he couldn't think of any other reason why he'd be where he was otherwise.

At least at first things had run smoothly, he'd left the castle and walked through the barrier with one of those armguards. In stage one of the plan Emrys had made sure he looked just like him, which honestly wasn't that much work, and led him close to where he was supposed to go. There he'd been left alone and waited for his signal that was given shortly thereafter. With a last deep breath Merlin had then started stage two and stealthily walked into the camp. Well, okay he'd made quite some noise, but none that would have been overly suspicious and with that that stage was complete. Successful infiltration of enemy territory, check.

It was stage three where things had gotten tricky, which incidentally was the one Merlin was stuck in now. As one can guess, being confronted by the entire army had not been part of the plan; at least Merlin really hoped it hadn't. They had told him to lure away the leaders by approaching and taunting them, while the rest would be distracted by something or other. Without them the group would be far easier to defeat, as they were the most powerful ones. (Another point during Arthur's explanation where Merlin should have said "thanks for asking, but no thanks.")

Well, _he_ had actually and surprisingly managed to fulfil his task, but unfortunately for him the others apparently hadn't. How he could know that? Oh, just because of the five or six _hundred_ additional pursuers he had on his tail. Running like mad Merlin could just make out Camelot's silhouette in the distance and prayed that he would reach and pass the invisible barrier in time. And then he would throttle whoever had ruined the plan.

Squinting at the castle again he saw tiny movements on the battlements and hoping that the guards could help him some way he started waving frantically, just before he had to avoid another fire ball and hurried into a denser part of the forest.

.

Up on the battlements Prince Arthur had kept watch for anything unusual for what seemed like hours. After Merlin and the others had left the castle, he hadn't had much other choice than to stare at their approximate location. While he really hoped that the whole thing worked and they'd be rid of the future people again, he had a sneaking suspicion that something wasn't going accordingly. And if he had to guess he'd say it was most likely his manservant's fault…

A short time later he found his thoughts confirmed when he spotted said imbecile running for his life in front of several hundred sorcerers, who were throwing spell after spell after him. But then again Arthur was pleasantly surprised as the raven-head didn't stumble once, well that was before the boy waved like a maniac. Cue face-palm.

"What is it, Arthur?" his father, who had just appeared next to him, questioned.

"Nothing father, I just saw Merlin tailed by a lot of sorcerer, it seems the plan has failed." Turning to look where his son pointed to, Uther frowned and studied the forest as if his eyes were able to look beyond the foliage. However, they didn't have to wait long till Merlin burst out of the woods and dashed toward the gates.

Unfortunately, only moments before he reached safety one of the spells struck Merlin in the back and a myriad of ropes promptly bound him, effectively trapping him on the ground. Swearing profusely Arthur hurried to get off the battlements and to the gate, followed distantly by Uther, who walked without haste.

When the prince arrived at the gates Merlin was still on the ground squirming unsuccessfully against his bonds. In the meantime his pursuers were cackling maliciously and taunting their fallen adversary. As of yet none of them made a move to further attack Merlin, they obviously enjoyed seeing him sprawled on the ground helplessly.

Trapped within the barrier Arthur desperately tried to get to Merlin, which only made the sorcerers laugh louder. Gritting his teeth upon realising there was nothing he could do, the blonde stared at his servant and bellowed "Merlin, you idiot, do something." From his position on the ground Merlin looked up at his master with an expressing that clearly said 'I'm trying you prat.' before he continued his useless escape attempts.

"Let's just kill him already." hissed someone in the crowd behind him, whereupon Merlin redoubled his efforts. Then they started arguing how to kill him and hearing most of the possibilities he wasn't really keen on actually experiencing any of them. However, his time was running out and he still hadn't found a way to escape.

Before he could make a decision, they did, and without dallying further they hurled another spell at him, only that this one was meant to be the last one he ever felt. Gazing at his prince, he saw Arthur's horrified expression as he was staring at whatever came his way, and he thought that it couldn't end like this.

Making a split-second decision Merlin's eyes flashed golden, his bonds fell away and he was simultaneously flung forward by an invisible force, right through the shield and into safety. Behind him the spell hit the barrier only a second later, followed by the screams of the sorcerers. It seemed even they were confused, shouts of "You said he didn't have magic yet" and wails of "How could you have let him escape" penetrated Merlin's ears, his eyes though were fixed on Arthur. While the group in front of the gate threw a few last insults and disappeared shortly thereafter, as they still hadn't figured out how to break the barrier, Arthur remained exactly where he was for once speechless and stared at his servant in disbelief. His father, on the other hand, wasn't so easily silenced.

"You." Uther bellowed in rage "I knew it! You're a lying sorcerer." And pushing Arthur aside he drew his sword and pointed it at Merlin's throat. "All this time you've been plotting against Camelot, admit it!"

Not knowing what to do Merlin remained stock still and for a moment he was distracted by the irony of the situation, he'd just escaped certain death and now he was right back on the brink of death. Oh joy. Just when he was about to give his 'I'm innocent and here to protect Arthur' speech, another Merlin appeared from beyond the woods, redirecting the attention of Uther and the others.

He approached them, apparently oblivious to the hostile atmosphere, having only eyes for his counterpart and exclaimed "Oh thank god, we changed place back there before they got me- or yo-" and with that said he promptly stumbled over his own feet and fell face first into the dirt.

Uther, still with his sword at Merlin's throat, stared at the other one dumbfounded, before realisation struck him. "**You're** Emrys!" he shouted disbelievingly at the one kneeling in front of him. Nodding frantically for a moment, before realising that his future self would behave more dignified Merlin quickly confirmed that statement.

"But when?" questioned the king while removing the sword from his throat. He was still not comfortable with the sorcerer, but it was clear that he had no right to kill this one...unfortunately.

Wide-eyed Merlin tried to make something up, but thankfully his older self saved him once again, faking awed enthusiasm. "Oh it was brilliant, the moment I ran into the woods, he swooped in out of nowhere and took over, while I hid behind a tree."

"Yep, that sounds like our Merlin.." muttered Arthur quietly, although the relief in his voice was palpable.

"Then why did you still pretend you were him?" inquired Uther gazing at 'Emrys'.

'Uh-oh, good question…' Merlin thought, 'Our enemy doesn't know that I already had magic in the past, so they weren't afraid of you as soon as they guessed who you were. And you didn't want to use any, so that they would still think you had none for future strategies…" startled at the other voice in his head, which was his own, but not really, he quickly relayed what he'd been told; an edited version of course.

Satisfied with the explanation Uther only nodded and walked off. Arthur then proceeded with his own interrogation; a little confused he directed his question at both of them. "So, why exactly did the plan fail?"

"Unexpected developments." Answered 'Merlin' succinctly.

"Which means you tripped fell and they saw you before they should." Replied Arthur barely able to restrain his laughter, which quickly got impossible as both Merlin's glared at him perfectly synchronic and strut off together towards the castle.

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><p><strong>Please let me know what you thought! :D<strong>


	11. Interlude

**Interlude**

_Camelot, sometime in the future_

It was a beautiful day in Albion, the sun was shining and all was quiet. Since their King, his advisor Merlin and some of his men had left the city there had been no incidences, hostile or otherwise. The people were going about their lives, knowing that they were well protected by their knights and by the countless magical shields surrounding everything.

But there was one thing it couldn't save them from, as Sir Elyan had discovered recently. It was terrifying. It was never ending. It was…paperwork.

At first, when Arthur had asked Elyan if he would be willing to temporarily 'take over' the delegation of 'duties and stuff', as Arthur had phrased it, he'd been thrilled. He'd been absolutely sure that Lancelot would get that job, so it was even more of an honour to be appointed as Arthur's representative. What he didn't know was that the other knight had politely declined that part of the job. Sir Lancelot had been smart enough to only accept the interesting duties, but who would have thought that this would be so boring?

Reading reports, writing report, dealing with state matters…oh not the exciting bits, noo he had to settle petty arguments and read mile-long letters from all kinds of guilds. And every time he thought he'd finally finished, another pile would magically appear. It was a vicious circle…

Most of these days one could find Elyan buried behind a ridiculous pile of parchments and half that time he was sound asleep. What could he say? There was no better sleeping 'draught' than this.

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><p><strong>A little apology for my long absence +I still won't have time to write till the beginning of February. Until then and sorry!<strong>


	12. Chapter 11

**Okaay, here we go (finally) so so sorry for the delay, but first I didn't have the time and then I got stuck after the second sentence^^ Personally, I don't think it's one of my best chapters...so i hope you'll like it anyway and yah**

**Thanks for your reviews, I really appreciate them and please let me know what you thought of this chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 11**

Half an hour later, Merlin and Emrys left to 'swap' their clothes again. King Arthur and his followers, however, were on their way to their chambers, when Uther intercepted them and insisted that Arthur talk to him alone. Looking less than impressed Arthur sent his knights away regardless and motioned Uther to follow him to his rooms. After entering and closing the door Arthur turned to his father and inquired, "so, what is it you want from me."

"I just-" breaking off, the king sighed and sat down heavily, before continuing, "I wanted to ask you what happened to make you hate me so much."

"I don't hate you." was his son's succinct reply.

Uther scoffed and replied, "that's a little hard to believe, judging from the way you talk to me."

"That's not - I - alright, you really want to do this?" After receiving a confirming nod, Arthur walked forward to loom over his sitting father and started talking.

"Fine, then how about we start with the part where you killed my mother and subsequently started to murder innocent people," seeing Uther's intention to interrupt, Arthur cut him off immediately, "no, you don't get to defend yourself, not anymore. It was _your_ decision and _your_ need for an heir that provoked her death. You may not have dealt her the killing blow yourself, but you did "accidently" on purpose sign her death warrant. You _knew_ that there was a price and _you_ chose to use magic anyway and then you dare blame someone else? Hundreds of people, _my_ people died, because of your...inability to admit to having made a mistake."

Taking a deep breath Arthur tried to calm himself before adding, "so, yes I don't particularly like you anymore. I - I tried to understand your reasons for the purge and your decisions concerning my mother, I really did, but still I don't get it. And I never had the chance to ask you before, so please explain it to me, because I sure as hell don't know what you were thinking." Rant finished Arthur stopped crowding his father and retreated to the far wall, leaving a momentarily speechless Uther behind.

Several moments later the old king was still looking like a fish out of water, especially with his mouth opening and closing rapidly, without actual sounds coming out of it. Another felt lifetime later, Uther was finally about to answer, only to be interrupted by the near-explosive opening of the chamber doors. Shortly followed by Emrys walking in.

The warlock stopped short upon seeing both kings in the same room, uneasy for a second, however, he soon recovered and keeping his words vague, because of Uther's presence, he only said, "we've got a problem."

Rolling his eyes at the irony of it all, Arthur only hesitated a second and threw one last apprehensive look at his father, before he followed Emrys, who led him out of the room. Seriously, who was he kidding? He would never get his answer, the time was just never right. And maybe ,just maybe it was better this way. He'd really like to know what had happened back then, but apparently some things were better left in the past.

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><p>King Arthur and his court sorcerer were hurrying through the hallways to the battlements, where Merlin planned to show the blonde what he'd discovered, when they happened to cross paths with a certain maid. Upon spotting her Arthur promptly forgot his worries and started smiling like a lovesick puppy. Not really thinking about it he called out for her, "Guinevere."<p>

Startled by the call, Gwen promptly dropped the basket she was carrying and whipped around to find out who'd said her name. After spotting the two men she smile and inquired, "Is there something you need, Sire?"

"No, no thank you, Gwen and technically you don't work for me yet."

"Oh, you're the old one - I mean older - not that you're not looking as ..youthful. Er I'll better go now. It was nice meeting you." With a last sheepish smile Gwen hastily retrieved her basket and ran for it. Unaware of the fact that Arthur was watching her fondly until she disappeared from view.

Emrys only rolled his eyes at the antics of his king and unceremoniously dragged him on. When they finally reached the battlements Emrys sent the stationed guards away and only then started explaining.

"Here, look."Emrys said, while he quickly drew a circle with his hand in the air above him and murmured "**ic i ****sweotolae." **As soon as he'd pronounced the last syllable a round 'window' appeared, where he'd indicated it with his hand, showing something else than the usual view. Instead of clear skies and green forests, there was a fire and a cloud of smoke blocked most of the view.

"What is this?" Arthur asked bemused.

"It's one of the outlying villages, my shield doesn't extend that far and they know that. They've started attacking them one by one."

"Then we have to help them," exclaimed an outraged someone from behind. The two whirled around and watched as Prince Arthur appeared from a secluded alcove, which usually served as a hideout against enemy fire. Dumbfounded Emrys only said, "uh, you weren't supposed to know that."

"Not supposed to - I don't care what I'm _supposed_ to know. I have to help my people."

"I'm sorry, but that's not possible. It would be too dangerous for you and the future, too many things are dependent on your survival," explained Emrys patiently.

"I don't care! I can't just sit by and watch my people die. Give me a pair of those special armguards, now." Arthur and Emrys exchanged a worried glance, until the former spoke up. "No, I'm afraid that's not going to happen, but you don't need to worry I'll send - Merlin here to take care of it."

"_Mer_lin? And that's supposed to be reassuring? You can't be serious," the younger blonde shouted.

Not really interested in being dragged into a long argument Merlin cut in with, " right, I'll just be going then, see you later." And just like that he dissolved into a gust of wind and disappeared, leaving Arthur to bicker with himself.

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><p>An hour and a lost argument later Prince Arthur stomped through the castle in a foul mood. Not only couldn't he help his people, he was also no better than a sitting duck, waiting for a predator to strike. And that just wouldn't do. He had a plan and right now he was on his way to get an ally.<p>

"_Mer_lin, come along. I've got a job for you..."

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><p><strong>Review pls<strong> =)

**ic i ****sweotolae**= to show / reveal


	13. Chapter 12

**I know it's been forever, but I've now nearly finished the story (only have to type it =D) and maybe write a bit more, but I promise that the next chapter will be up in about two hours and then maybe another one after that! **

**Thanks again for your reviews! I appreciate and love them very much. **

**Hope you'll like this chapter and sorry for any mistakes.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 12**

As so often in his life Merlin wondered what he'd gotten himself into now. Since the future people had arrived he'd barely had any time to rest. As it was he hadn't yet 'recovered' from his recent venture into the enemy's camp when the royal prat demanded his undivided attention.

Minutes later and reigned into another of his master's ingenious plots the young warlock now found himself heading towards the training fields instead of his comfy bed. But then again who needed rest anyway as long as there was some fool's errand to pursue? Not him of course nah...blessed be that Arthur got to feast and sleep, while he was positively starving and dead on his feet. This whole situation just screamed for revenge. At first Merlin had decided to carry out this 'mission' as slowly as humanly possible, but then he'd realised that the more time it took, the less he would have to rest. Therefore he would postpone that to a later time.

Anyway, so here he was 'sneaking' up on an unaware future knight to 'steal' some of those armguards.

"Hey Galahad," Merlin shouted across the field to get the knight's attention. Hearing his name the blonde turned to look and upon seeing Merlin he jogged over to join him. All the while the knight had an eager smile on his face, which made Merlin think that this was going to be too easy.

"Merlin, what's up," questioned Galahad.

"I was just wondering if you could get me a pair of those fancy armguards you guys have. You know, I'd just really like to study them a bit, for future reference."

Obviously hesitant to help Gal touched his own and slowly answered, "I don't think that's such a good idea. We're not supposed to help you with that."

At that moment Merlin realised a weakness in the future people's arguments and seized it immediately. "Yah, but what if I only came up with the idea for those things because I was able to study them right now?" Quite satisfied with his reasoning Merlin looked at the knight expectantly.

"That's not really possible as you're not going to remember any- oh shit-" Galahad slapped his right hand over his mouth momentarily, before he hastily tried to cover his slip-up.

"I mean erm that er..."

Eyes narrowed in contemplation Merlin continued his former sentence, "that you're going to erase our memories!"

"No, no don't know what you're talking about." The knight did his best to steer the servant's thoughts into a different direction, but Merlin was reluctant to let go of this new insight. Then, apparently enraged at the prospect of being manipulated by a sorcerer, even if it just happened to be himself, Merlin made to leave to confront King Arthur or his older self. However, Galahad intercepted him swiftly and more or less begged him not to reveal his slip-up to his father-figure. Although Merlin knew that Emrys wouldn't be angry with his charge, he decided not to mention that to the man.

Sensing victory the raven-head proposed an exchange, a pair of those armguards for his silence and after much groaning the other accepted the deal. And reluctantly told Merlin where he could find a spare pair.

Smiling in triumph Merlin dropped his charade of righteous anger, thanked Gal heartily and left to get his spoils. He hadn't enjoyed using the knight in such a way, but on the other hand he reasoned no harm would befall the blonde for his help.

Also, while he wasn't looking forward to being manipulated he understood his own arguments. It was better to leave the future unknown, no matter the desire one had to catch a glimpse of the outcome. Of course, it would be nice to know that he would succeed in his endeavour to protect Arthur and help him become a great king, but it would be even better to live through it. One step at a time, untainted by the probably hindering knowledge.

Still contemplating that Merlin dropped off the armguards in Arthur's chambers and finally hurried to his room to get at least snack in and nap a little, before the prat ran off to do something stupid..._again_.

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><p>In the meantime, one of the bigger outlying villages was still under attack. Its inhabitants were doing everything in their power to fend off their attackers till their lonely scout could reach help. However, despite their desperate struggle, it was more than clear that they would in all likelihood not survive the day. Not only were there sorcerers battling, or at the moment rather <em>playing,<em> with them, mythical beasts had also joined the skirmish with their claws and fangs.

The villagers had long ago abandoned their huts, in fear of being burnt with them, and instead gathered at an easily defensible 'fort'. This structure had been hurriedly built with upturned carts and wooden boxes by the few battle-hardened villagers. They had once been a part of the royal army, before giving up their stations to retire in these villages with their families. Among them little doubts was left of the fate of the village, many were even surprised that they'd survived this long. Especially, against those sorcerers with their bloody spells. But for whatever reason they were holding back and so were the creatures. There was something else going on and while none of them knew what exactly, they all hoped it would save their lives.

Suddenly a bright red light flared up at the edge of the village and shortly afterwards a brisk wind manifested. Squinting the men could just make out the figure of a man appearing in the middle of the wind, before just as sudden the light enveloped him. Seemingly surprised the man moved jerkily to find a way out of the cocoon of light, but he was quickly consumed by its sheer mass.

A scream of agony rang over the sounds of battle and a tense silence lay itself over the enemy. Until, one by one, cheers of victory sounded among them, as no one reappeared from within the now shrinking light. From among the army then came a figure clad in black and approached the site carefully. After another tense moment the person lifted her hood to reveal a beautiful woman. Dark hair contrasting ivory skin and a cruel smirk on her lips, she was a daunting sight. And over the returned, oppressive silence her voice rang mockingly, "Goodbye Emrys, my _dear_ old friend."

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><p><strong>Review ? =) pleeease<strong>


	14. Chapter 13

**Another chapter as promised! ;D ...and I'm off to write the next one!**

**and I guess there are slight spoilers for Season 4 in this chapter, so you've been warned! **

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 13**

Arthur Pendragon, Prince of Camelot, silently congratulated himself for his successful plan, not that he actually had anything to do with it. He didn't even know how Merlin had managed to get those armguards, but neither did he really care. However, it seemed his servant was at least useful for something. Moments earlier the blonde had been more than astonished as Merlin gave him a pair of modified armguards. Not only had Merlin managed to get some in a quite short time, he'd also avoided discovery, which was in Merlin's case quite an accomplishment.

Thus Arthur decided he would grant his servant a day off...not now of course, but in the near future. After this whole ordeal was over-well or maybe not then, there was a tournament coming up. So, maybe after or frowning Arthur thought further, however, he couldn't actually think of a time, when he wouldn't need his servant by his side. There was the tournament, then of course he'd like to go hunting and after that he'd have to attend those boring council meetings again. And if he had to die of boredom, Merlin would have to as well. Whatever, he'd think about that one later.

Right now he was cautiously making his way toward a side entrance of the castle, through which he planned to take his leave. He knew that alone he couldn't really help the villages all that much, but he would at least try. He could and would support them the best he could and if it was only to help them escape.

Having reached the hidden gateway Arthur quickly checked that the area was clear, before he walked out of the castle. Once outside the blonde ran into the surrounding forest and soon disappeared underneath the shadow of the trees.

"Where do you think you're going," spoke an all too familiar voice from behind him.

Startled Arthur whirled around, sword in hand, and came face to face with himself. He silently cursed his bad luck, secured his sword and replied nonchalantly, "nowhere, I was just talking a walk."

"Uh-huh, and of course you just happened to stumble across those in the process." King Arthur indicated the armguards and raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"You do know that I'm basically you, only older, don't you? Which also means I know you pretty well. Don't mock me. And as I already said, it is unwise for you to leave the castle, so please get back inside or do I have to drag you!"

Younger Arthur only scoffed and said, "please as if you, old man, could take me. You look as if you enjoyed too many feasts and too few training sessions."

"You do realise your insulting yourself, right?" After looking sown at himself he continued, "and I'm not _fat_."

"Keep telling yourself that...oh and remind me to tell Merlin that I won't participate in all those feasts once I'm king. I don't want to end up like you."

"That's it you're dead." With that King Arthur pounced on his younger version and they both tumbled to the ground, where they both tried to hit each other and get the upper hand.

Several minutes later the two blondes were still rolling around the forest floor when an amused voice stated, "As much as I enjoy watching you literally fight with yourself, I'm the one who has to clean your clothes. So, could you maybe relocate?"

"No!" was the bellowed answer from both fight- participants.

"Okay, soo Arthur what happened to 'I'm the prince, I can't be seen conducting petty fights'," Merlin questioned mock seriously. Again both replied at the same time. "He started it!"

No longer able to contain his laughter Merlin promptly doubled over and laughed out loud. Becoming aware of the servant's ridicule of their situation the two 'adversaries' shared a look of mutual understanding and abandoned their fight to tackle the offending man instead. Cut off in mid-laugh Merlin fell on his back with a thud and struggled to get the two heavy men off of him.

Not really able to breathe due to the weight he was just about to beg for his release, when a massive explosion could be heard, coming from the main gates. Shocked all three of them stared that way before they hastily scrambled to their feet -or rather tried to as they were all hindering each other. Subsequently they all had a hard time standing up.

"Stop kicking me!" Arthur shouted indignantly.

"Then you stop dragging me down!" exclaimed King Arthur in the very same tone of voice.

"It's hardly my fault that you're too old and _fat_ to get up by yoursel- oww I said stop it." And that's how they returned to their little fistfight, momentarily forgetting the possible danger at the gate. Thankfully their renewed fighting allowed Merlin to reclaim his feet. The warlock quickly checked that he was still intact and then started shouting.

"For god's sake stop fighting!" He received no answer, huffed in annoyance and stated, "fine, then _I'll_ go check who's attacking _your_ castle. And don't think that I won't kick your arses for this...as soon as I have my fancy necklace." The thinly veiled threat at last reached the two, who now slowly separated. The younger one mainly because he was too busy laughing to concentrate on the fight, but the other looked slightly alarmed and fled hastily. With one last look at his currently amused master Merlin followed the king and so did Arthur after composing himself properly.

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><p>Atop the battlements of Camelot the future soldiers stood silently, relentlessly searching for their invisible foe. Only moments after that powerful spell had struck the barrier a short gust of wind had occurred, but no one had materialised within it. And while they all fully trusted Merlin's shield, there were still ways to undergo its presence or in the worst case destroy it.<p>

"What's happened," inquired the calm voice of their king, who was striding over from the staircase. The captain of the guard reported calmly, "Some kind of spell hit the shield, but didn't break through. No sight of the enemy so far, Sire."

"Good keep watch-" That moment another bright white bolt crashed into the protection barrier with a deafening boom. This time the following wind brought their attackers with it. Just like days before an army appeared in front of Camelot.

"Merlin," bellowed King Arthur.

"Yah, what is it?" Merlin answered reluctantly, already awaiting to be involved in another dumb plan.

"Didn't talk to you."

"But you said-"

"I know." Arthur regarded his surroundings expectantly, but nothing happened.

"Oh, he's talking to the other Merlin, who isn't here..." murmured Arthur to Merlin, simultaneously he tapped his forehead covertly.

"Exactly," King Arthur replied scathingly. "And he's not answering, which is never a good sign..." Frowning Arthur then turned to his men and told them to get ready for battle and to wear some kind of amulets.

"Yes, Sire." At once the knights whirled into motion to carry out the order.

"What amulets," Prince Arthur inquired, his older counterpart in any case wasn't listening anymore. He was already busy shouting...at his necklace.

"Merlin, you imbecile, move your arse back to Camelot, now!" Nothing. There was no reaction to his words whatsoever and frankly he looked quite crazy standing there shouting at a piece of jewellery. Seemingly not bothered by that Arthur kept barking orders at his amulet, only to be finally interrupted by a female voice, "I always knew you would succumb to madness, just like our _beloved_ father." The people standing on the battlements turned towards the source of the voice and found a woman standing in front of the army, smirking evilly. Upon spotting the woman Arthur stated emotionlessly, "Morgana."


	15. Chapter 14

**Soo, this is the last chapter for today, will try to update again in the next few days! (Sorry for any mistakes.) Hope you enjoyed the last two and you'll like this one as well. **

**Enjoy! :D**

**Chapter 14**

All the while, a tottery old man hobbled through a vastly destroyed village with a gleeful smile on his face, which stood in sharp contrast to the miserable expressions on the villagers faces. The village had been under attack till a few minutes earlier, when all of a sudden the enemy had disappeared, apparently having achieved their objective. Some people the old man thought just never learned their lesson. Dragoon the Great, as some had called him, was at the same time rather content with his own inspiring performance.

No one doubted that he was actually surprised by that silly little spell Morgana and her allies had placed to kill him. He'd already guessed that there would be some kind of trap waiting for him the moment he'd found out that the villages were under attack. Please even he wasn't careless enough not to check for magical pitfalls before he manifested somewhere. That was one of the first things Gaius taught him as soon as he'd mastered the transportation spell. _Never go in blind and if you do it anyway at least throw up a shield around you. _Had been his guardian's sound advice, who was all too familiar with Merlin's reckless behaviour.

In any case the warlock had felt the spell even from Camelot. It was quite surprising that Morgana was so careless, as she usually covered all her bases, but then again maybe she'd just thought Merlin didn't have the predisposition to feel magical imprints. True enough it had taken him quite some time to grasp that particular power, which had cost them dearly on several occasions. Had he always been able to feel the magic hidden within objects or places, he could have averted many disasters. Caught in memories the old man nearly forgot about his splendid performance, but he soon chased away his depressing thoughts and replayed it instead.

Throughout all that Dragoon was busy preparing for what he now called the final act, which had so successfully started with his own 'death'. He started to lay his own net of traps around Camelot from where he was, laying each one slowly and masking it before he even finished it. He was so careful as to not raise any suspicion by the sorcerers currently besieging the castle.

Soon thereafter his king's voice was calling for him, but as much as he hated to let him stew and wait...- huh then again wasn't that one of the things he was especially good at? To be honest, he loved it! Of course, if he was ever asked where he'd been so long, he would have a perfectly reasonable explanation why his immediate appearance would have jeopardised the plan.

So, for now he stayed where he was and played his first role, appropriately named Dragoon the Great, from afar.

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><p><em>Back in Camelot<em>

"Morgana!" echoed Prince Arthur loudly. "What's the meaning of this? We have to get her inside, before they hurt her -quick." When still no one mover Arthur bellowed "What are you waiting for?" When Arthur himself tried to get to Morgana King Arthur said quietly. "Merlin." Receiving no answer Arthur glanced pointedly at the present warlock and repeated, "_Mer_lin."

A little confused Merlin stared at the king quizzically until finally he realised that the other was talking to him this time.

"Oh, you meant me. Sorry." Not even bothered by Merlin's obliviousness Arthur continued.

"Put them to sleep."

Now really confused the servant replied "Put whom to sleep? And I don't really think there's time to sleep right now..."

Forgoing any discretion the older blonde pointed at Arthur and the other residents of past- Camelot and repeated quietly. "Use your magic and put them all to sleep."

"This is ridiculous, he doesn't have any magic yet. Merlin tell him-" Prince Arthur stopped talking upon seeing the guilt-stricken expression on his servant's face. "M-Merlin please tell me he's wrong." Even though he already _knew_ it was true Arthur didn't want to believe it, heck the evidence had been right in front of them every time Emrys did magic. Still some part of him hoped that it was a simple misunderstanding. The answer to his question however took away all remaining doubts.

"I -I'm sorry, Arthur. I'll explain later, okay? Please just don't freak out now." Smiling uncertainly Merlin composed himself best he could and cast the spell. "**ic i geswefe**" The very second his eyes changed to their usual golden colour Arthur looked so betrayed that Merlin had to close his eyes against it. Several moments later as he finally opened them again, his master was already slumped against the balustrade - fast asleep; just like everyone else in Camelot. Seeing his precarious position Merlin hurried forward to gently reposition him, though two guards beat him to it. They gently picked him up and carried him off towards his chambers, where he would be more comfortable.

"Why did you do that?" Merlin stared at King Arthur accusingly. "And why did I have to bewitch them?"

"Mainly because the more they all witness the harder it is to erase and redo their memories of the last couple of days. Also, I didn't really want to deal with them right now, just image the ruckus Uther alone would cause."

"You're planning to leave after today's fight." Merlin glanced at the assembled opposing force and continued. "How do you know you'll win? Emrys isn't even here."

Leaning over to Merlin as if sharing a big secret Arthur stage-whispered. "He'll be here. He always likes to have a dramatic, last-minute entrance. Pain in the arse if you ask me, he loves it though."

"Helloo," Morgana shouted impatiently. "Sorry, to disrupt your little chat ladies, but could we get on with it. I'm planning to redecorate the throne room once we're done today, so I haven't got time for your babbling."

Arthur only rolled his eyes and taunted her, much like his younger self had mocked him earlier. "Please, as if you and your little band of followers have enough power to scratch the mere surface of Emrys' barrier.

As a response Morgana bared her teeth and told her minions to charge.

And so the battle for Camelot began...

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><p><strong>Review please =) and let me know what you thought! <strong>


	16. Chapter 15

**The long awaited next chapter arrives! I think I should apologise _again_ I kind of forgot to post this one...but anyway the next one should be up soon-ish. Sorry for any mistakes and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!**

**Thanks for your reviews last time and I sorry for not replying, I loved them all! (at least I think I didn't..bit tired from university these days. thank god I got holidays now! :D )**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 15**

The very ground, on which Camelot was built, was vibrating from the sheer volume of magical energy that filled the air around the city. Despite that the people of Camelot slept peacefully and without worries. But that was no wonder as Merlin's spell still affected them all.

Merlin, himself on the other hand, was in a state of panic as he watched the numerous attacks hit the barrier continuously. Most of the spells used were familiar to him, but he'd never seen them this powerful. Especially, from people that weren't him, but then again, he thought, there must be some advantages with combining the magic of that many sorcerers/sorceresses.

The sheer strength of the attack baffled him and he briefly wondered how the future must look like. And imagined a vibrant, thriving city, overshadowed by its populations constant fright of being under an assault of this magnitude. Surely, the people there were protected by a barrier, much like the one King Arthur and Emrys had erected around the city, but was it really the _golden_ future prophets had predicted.

Right now he could hardly imagine it, all the deaths that were inevitable throughout any battles. Even if, no, _when_ Camelot won the number of casualties would be massive. Wasn't there any other way to solve this?

"Don't look so glum, Merlin," Arthur said friendly, with just a hint of exasperation.

"There's time for grief later. Now, we must do what is needed to protect the people and their future."

"But isn't there any other way? It seem so pointless to fight them, to fight _her_...and how exactly did that happen anyway," Merlin questioned desperately. He just couldn't bring himself to relate this new version of Morgana with the present Lady. It made no sense, none at all. But then again, he had no idea what was going to happen in the future and honestly, after all that he did know, he wasn't sure he even wanted to know. Or see it transpire in due time.

Arthur ground his teeth grimly and only slowly replied, "let's just say, it wasn't something I saw coming- unlike you."

Then Arthur suddenly tilted his head, as if listening to something only he could hear. Frowning he waved over Sir Leon, who had stayed close to his king, and whispered an order into his ear. Sir Leon only nodded smartly and took position at Merlin's left, apparently waiting for something.

"What's going on?" Merlin inquired suspiciously. He knew that look on his master's face, it was the same one he got before he either did something incredibly stupid or noble. Mind racing Merlin took a tentative step back, however, he was soon met with restricting hands. And before he realised his mistake Leon had him in a tight body lock, which in itself was ridiculous considering that he had magic and could fling him off easily. Except that it wasn't working...

The usual flash of golden eyes brought him no freedom, in fact it didn't do anything. Frantic now Merlin trashed in his hold and exclaimed, "what did you do, my magic, it's gone." Only now did he see the glowing necklace around Arthur's neck, which for some reason hummed with his own power.

"Don't worry," Arthur tried to placate him. "It's only temporary. Emrys was quite certain that you would object to being put asleep yourself. That's why he created this talisman, to make sure you wouldn't interfere or rather get hurt in this battle. Plus, it really is easier to alter memories the less you know. And yours will be quite a bit of work anyway. So, good night."

The moment Arthur said it a heavy wave of fatigue worked its way over Merlin's consciousness and drowned his senses swiftly. As a matter of fact he only had time to say one word, before he succumbed to a peaceful slumber.

_"Prat." _The sound of distant laughter followed him into his sleep.

The future king, who was still chuckling, ordered Leon to carry his servant into his room and then returned to watching the attacks progress. Arthur silently counted the minutes, till he was sure Merlin was far enough away from the battlefield, before he whispered, "we're ready."

In a village not too far away an old man cocked his head and then smiled slightly. _'time to spring my traps then...'_

Back in Camelot the sky was still filled with hundreds of spells, when suddenly the protective barrier flickered violently and collapsed entirely. The now unprotected soldiers and knights hissed curses and flung themselves under whatever cover they could find. Some retreated into the guard towers, others simply hid behind the wall of the battlements. Only King Arthur and his elite stayed exactly where they were, feet planted firmly on the ground and observing their now cheering opponents.

Morgana's voice could be heard clearly above the general shouting, as she urged her supporters on and screamed for the defenders blood. All the while, spell after spell hit the protectors hideouts, though most of the attacks were trained upon Arthur and his closest knights.

It was a bizarre sight. The multicoloured spells rained down on either side and above them, as if they were framing them. They highlighted Arthur's fierce posture, his magnificent armour and most of all his unforgiving expression.

In his time he was known as a just, peace loving king, therefore many often forget that when angered he could turned into a raging dragon. And nothing enraged him more than a threat to the safety of his people.

Many among the assailants stopped, paralysed by their first real glimpse of their rightful king, untainted by the words of others and in his purest form. Right then a great number of them realised something no amount of words could have conveyed, namely that Arthur truly was their prophesised king. When asked later, none of them would be able to explain what had come over them in that moment, though it was more than just a feeling, an epiphany.

Finally, they had found what they'd been looking for all along, a king worthy of their loyalty and affection. A king who would always fight for the innocent.

Just like that the attacks lessened considerably, as more than half the sorcerers, sorceresses and creatures lowered their hands and claws and paws to bow. Arthur acknowledged their gesture and motioned for them to step aside and rest till he was able to speak with them further.

Little did they know that their sudden change of heart had been provoked by an ingenious warlock and his first trap. Its entire purpose to weed out those, who had been persuaded by Morgana against their better judgment. Now, only the real enemies remained, the ones who were actually out to kill Arthur, out of misguided revenge or in an attempt to further their own positions.

Now, the real battle could begin...

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><p><strong>Review ? :D please<strong>


	17. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the delay and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! **

**Thanks for your reviews! :D **

**Chapter 16**

As expected Morgana sounded her charge immediately, too blinded by her fury to even consider the possibility of magical traps. However, unlike her brother, she stayed at the very back of the advancing masses and only occasionally contributed a spell or two of her own to the attack, which was always aimed directly at her dear brother. Arthur though simply side-stepped most of the spells, but even if one landed a direct hit nothing happened to him. His armour simply glowed slightly and absorbed the magic.

The oncoming sorcerers soon realised that none of their spells actually hit anything and stopped to regroup and find a new strategy. The defenders, who had taken cover to evade the lightning bolts, fireballs and similar attacks, promptly regained their positions.

It was then that, while the sorcerers were huddled together in small groups, discussing or rather fighting over their further actions, King Arthur began to retaliate.

"Crossbows at the ready," Arthur shouted. "Take aim. Fire!" On his command the sky was filled with the small, dark bolts and only moments later the missiles hailed down on the sorcerers. As Arthur anticipated they immediately erected shields to protect themselves from the deadly shower.

_'Shield charms are among the most difficult,'_ Arthur recalled Merlin's lecture, which he had received after he'd complained about a failed shielding attempt. _'If conjured incorrectly they absorb an enormous amount of magical energy without actually doing anything. And in the worst case it kills you...' _Since that day the king had made a point of asking about the consequences of certain spells, before he let Merlin do anything, which annoyed his court sorcerer to no end. But that was just a small factor in why he kept asking, and that he sometimes didn't grasp the concepts the first time around had absolutely nothing to do with that as well. Really.

While the blonde was lost in thought, the sorcerers abandoned their discussions and hastily combined their protection barriers to form several large shields. But true to Emrys' word they were unable to produce a perfect, impenetrable one. Therefore seemingly at random the protection failed and let some of the bolts through, which killed or injured several of them.

Even more enraged by her incompetent followers Morgana ordered them to 'stop fooling around' and to kill the defenders. Apparently most were more afraid of her than of the crossbows, as they abandoned their defences and charged the castle walls.

Screaming and jeering accompanied their advance and occasionally some were struck down by well aimed arrows. Still, none of them faltered, which brought them the grudging respect of King Arthur.

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><p>Dragoon the Great was sitting on an old barrel and was overall quite bored. Up till now his king had had no real trouble holding the city by himself. There was no immediate need for him to participate in the battle yet and while many would call him a coward or twit for not helping, he knew that Arthur wouldn't want him to. Not yet anyway. His traps were effective enough and his presence would most likely do more harm than good. Because as long as Morgana believed him dead, she would be careless and overconfident. And the more supporters she lost before the final confrontation between them and Emrys, the better were his chances to take her down for good.<p>

So till then he would stay where he was and spring his traps, which could have been placed before he 'died'. Speaking of which, it was about time to activate the next one. Chuckling madly Dragoon murmured the necessary words and leaned back to enjoy the show.

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><p>The very moment his incantation was finished trap number two manifested at the left flank of the attackers. A small green ball of light flared up and bounced up and down mischievously, before it exploded with a <em>bang<em> and bathed a good quarter of the enemy's force in a similarly green mist.

From his vantage point Arthur watched, curious about what kind of pitfall Merlin had created there. Then as the mist retreated his left eye started twitching rapidly.

'That irritating, brainless imbecile,' he thought angrily. Merlin would pay for that! 'Trap my arse.' However, while Arthur fumed, his men were laughing uproariously and they would later on call this particular trap 'a stroke of genius'. Of course, none of them remembered or rather had knowledge of a certain goblin's prank. That was one secret Arthur guarded like his very life depended on it.

Subsequently, only Arthur was put out by the herd of adorable donkeys, which now stood in place of about a dozen magic users. Braying happily as they munched on the fresh grass, unaware that they ever were something else entirely.

For a single moment all battle spirit seemed to leave their remaining comrades, while they stared silently at their lost friends. But then one by one they reclaimed their wits and renewed the charge with more vigour, intent on getting revenge for their friends.

In their haste to reach the knights, they ignored Morgana's shouted orders, who tried to warn them of follow-up pitfalls. Cursing her followers for their thoughtless action she desperately tried to deactivate any hidden traps from afar, but she was too slow. Before she could even finish the needed incantation another one was triggered by her stupid followers.

This time there was no mischievous ball of light; no physical presence that announced the effect. There was only a sudden stillness, as if time itself had stopped for a moment... And when it resumed again, half of her remaining army was gone. They'd just disappeared, without a trace, as if they'd never existed at all.

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><p>Arthur watched the decimation of his enemy by an invisible foe in silence. After a few more moments of observing the handful of sorcerers and Morgana he sharply turned to his knights and bellowed, "Let's go. It's time to end this."<p>

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	18. Chapter 17

**And here comes the next/last chapter! Sorry for making you wait again. Hope you'll like the chapter anyway and the story is basically finished with this chapter, but I'll maybe write a short, fun chapter, as an epilogue. haven't decided yet though.. ;D anyway sorry for any mistakes (unbeta'd)**

**Oh and thank you for all your lovely reviews throughout the story and for alerts and favourites! Really appreciate it! =D**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 17**

Arthur and a dozen of his best men gathered in front of the main gates and prepared to engaged the remaining enemies. Aware that it would not be an easy fight against the magically armed sorcerers Arthur checked that all wore their enchanted armguards and amulets, which would protect them from most spells. When he was satisfied with the preparations Arthur took his position at the front and ordered the gates to be opened.

The gate garrison hastily complied and the heavy doors swung open. When the doors reached a sufficient opening for his men and him, Arthur strode through confidently, knowing that his knights were right behind him. After the whole contingent of knights was on the other side of the walls the gate was closed and secured once again. Normally the gates of Camelot would remain open during a battle, for reinforcements and to carry the injured to safety, but due to them being in the past it was better to seal the castle off. Of course, it was unlikely that one of the sorcerers or even Morgana would just walk past King Arthur and his knights, but one could never know. Best to play it safe than to regret it later. It would be disastrous if the young Arthur or Merlin were to be harmed.

The knight formed a loose line in front of the wall and Arthur took his place slightly in front of them. And then he simply turned his back on the enemy. Facing his men Arthur said jovially, "I'll try to leave some for you to fight, but knowing me...it doesn't look good for any of you." Laughter emitted from the ranks. When the last snickers died down he continued seriously. "All of us have waited a long time for this day. For Albion to finally be at peace, without looming enemies or threats. It has taken quite some time, but today we face the last of our foes and tomorrow we will celebrate our victory in the halls of Camelot." Arthur had gotten progressively louder during his little speech and at the end of it his men were cheering and shouting for victory. All of them, before and atop the battlements.

"For the love of Camelot!" The familiar battle cry was picked up immediately and echoed by all. Raising his sword above his head Arthur charged forward and his men followed.

All the while, the sorcerers had watched the contingent warily, knowing that their spells would have little to no effect on them, thanks to the amulets Emrys had provided them with. Bereft of their magic they would have to fight with swords and spears, weapons few of them had ever bothered to master. Morgana obviously knew how to wield a sword, but she wasn't planning on doing it, as it would put her at a severe disadvantage. Contemplating her next move carefully Morgana retreated further into the shadows and decided to let her pawns fight for now, while she would prepare her brother's doom.

Not to be outdone by their opponents half of the sorcerers started forward with an unintelligible war cry of their own. The two sides met shortly after and the sound of swords clashing filled the field. True to his word Arthur fought like a berserk and disabled his attackers swiftly. On his sides his men too fought valiantly and had no problems cutting down the enemy.

The sorcerers, who had remained behind, supported their friends by aiming lethal spells at the men in red-cloaks. While most of their spells bounced of invisible shields, as soon as they came to close to a knight, it was only a question of quantity rather than quality. After a number of hits the shield would start to waver and subsequently it would collapse. The affected knight then had to evade the magic by ducking or dodging, which sometimes proved to be impossible due to the swordfights he was involved in.

Even so, the battle was going well for the knights. The sword wielding sorcerers became less and less and some knights could move on to the magic wielding ones. Including Arthur, who had the best chance at getting to them, because his armour would not allow any spells through, no matter how many hit him.

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><p>From the shadows Morgana watched in rage as the rest of her army was picked off. Her plan had been perfect! It could have been so easy, if only her men had killed Arthur the second they manifested in this time, like she had instructed them to. She should have gone herself to make sure they finished the job. But she had been stuck in a futile effort to occupy Emrys, while her men prepared the time travel. If only she had known that the infuriating warlock would sense the beginning magic immediately and run to the rescue. She'd have ..oh what did it matter anymore, at least <em>he<em> was dead now.

"Boo!" Startled by the sudden voice behind her, Morgana yelped and whirled around. There to her horror stood Emrys, grinning madly. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist."

"You're dead," Morgana mumbled faintly. "I-I killed you."

"Yeah, that didn't quite work out. Sorry...nah I'm not really, but hey at least I left you to it, for a few hours. And look there, you're about to lose all by yourself," Merlin stated quite cheekily.

Despite herself Morgana turned to glance at the battle field once more and saw that Merlin was right. Most of her followers were on the ground, unmoving, and the rest was surrounded by red cloaks. Even she could see that she had lost...for now. Narrowing her eyes Morgana surreptitiously reached for a crystal, which was hidden in her dress. The crystal was enchanted and would send her back into the future, once it was crushed. She had just put her hand on it when Merlin's voice sounded close to her ear. "Ah ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Sneering Morgana turned suddenly and pushed Merlin away from her, dropping the crystal in the same movement. It landed right in front of her feet and with a condescending look at her archenemy she spat, "This isn't over." before she stepped onto the crystal with enough force to break it. Only seconds later a vortex made of wind encased her and the last thing Merlin heard was her triumphant laugh.

As soon as she was gone Merlin pulled an identical crystal out of his pocket. He looked at it for a moment and just about glimpsed a black-haired woman, who appeared to be screaming. She was surrounded by forest and there was a small hut right next to her. Other than that there was nothing but trees and wildlife around her. Sighing heavily Merlin pocketed the crystal again and said, "You really shouldn't have destroyed it, because now you're stuck in there forever."

In all honesty, Merlin had never intended to activate that particular trap, but he had seen no other choice to finally get rid of Morgana. Even after all the sufferings she had caused Arthur was reluctant to kill his sister. So, it was for the best this way. Plus, he really didn't want her to escape again.

Merlin then returned his attention to see how his king was doing, only to discover that the battle was essentially over. There were only two sorcerers left standing and that was only because Arthur had granted his men the pleasure of disposing of them. The blonde was by now heading for the shadows, where he'd last glimpsed his rogue sister. Not wanting to worry his king further Merlin walked into the light and met him halfway.

"Is it done," Arthur questioned anxiously.

"Yes, my lord. The war is finally over." Merlin replied happily.

"Good." Arthur smiled serenely. The two walked back to the castle together. On their way Arthur made sure his men were alright and that the wounded were being treated. Fortunately, not one of his knights had died. Shortly before they reached the gate Arthur abruptly stopped and Merlin regarded him curiously. Arthur was looking at something to their right, so Merlin turned his head to find out what it was. His eyes widened comically as he spotted the herd of donkeys and knowing his king, he started to run right away.

Shaken out of his revenge plotting Arthur barked "Merlin!" and rushed after his cheeky friend. The on looking knights only laughed, quite used to their antics.

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><p>Some time later, after Arthur had exacted his revenge, they both returned to the courtyard, the only difference being that Merlin now spotted bright red ears. Unfortunately, to the everlasting disappointment of Gwaine and the others, the two remained silent as to what had happened after they'd run off. Some things, they both agreed, were better kept secret; like donkey ears and such.<p>

Upon their arrival Sir Leon joined them and informed Arthur that all the knights, donkeys and every other trace of their being there had been collected and brought into the square. Nodding his thanks Arthur counted his men, checked their equipment (such as the magical armguards) and assured himself that all damage to the citadel had been repaired. Satisfied with what he saw he then returned to Merlin's side and found that the other had wisely already started with the spell that would send them home. Arthur, for one, could barely wait to finally be in his 'own' castle and to get to see his wife again.

Fortunately sending some one into their right time wasn't as difficult and time consuming as the other way around. Therefore barely an hour later the portal opened and transported them back into the future.

Though before Merlin let himself be sucked into the vortex, he smiled apologetically and murmured, " _ic i ofergitole þæt fyrngeflit ond ácendede gemyndblíþeu." _As he disappeared a wave of light encompassed the whole of Camelot and the people in their beds rolled over contently, released from the enchantment, which had kept them asleep. They would still sleep until the next morning though and upon waking none would remember what had taken place in Camelot for the last few days. All that would remain were memories of normal days and perhaps a small sense of loss.

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><p><strong>Review? And thanks again for reading, hope you liked it! :D <strong>

**A/N: the spell is as always not grammatically correct and the words probably all wrong, but it should mean something along the lines, "forget the old and renew happy memories"**


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